Great Britain, is responsible for so much antagonism and violence. Even before Ireland was
conquered in its entirety, the English Reformation would enshrine Protestantism as the
established religion, with the Acts of Supremacy enshrining the English monarch as the head
of the Church in Ireland. Over time, the Irish people, who overall identified as Catholic,
would be subjected to discriminatory legislation and processes as a result. At the behest of
the Irish Parliament, composed and influenced by Protestant Landowners, the Penal Laws
were introduced between 1695 and 1746. These laws restricted Catholics (along with some
Non-conformists) in practising their religion freely, along with owning property, and in
relation, the ability to hold political power and offices. 1 These laws, along with other factors,
would have left the affected Irish people to harbour resentment towards their
English/British overlords and led to several uprisings.
Of these, the most influential for Irish Home Rule in the eighteenth century and
onwards would be the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which coincided with the French
Revolutionary Wars and was directly supported with a French invasion onto Ireland. This
uprising is particularly important as it not only stimulated for the first-time ideals of
Republicanism in Ireland, it also heightened calls for a constitutional union between Britain
and Ireland. 2 The situation for Catholics did not improve immediately under the union, with
its goal to make it easier to protect Protestant interests and consolidate rule in Ireland. 3
Conditions of Irish Catholics would not improve until 1829, when the work of Daniel
O’Connell and the Catholic Association helped to bring about the Relief Act in 1829. While it
allowed Catholics to stand for any public offices, the property requirements went up
1 Hugh Shearman, Modern Irelan d (London: George Harrap, 1952), pp. 19-23 2 Alvin Jackson , Ireland 1798-1998: Politics and War (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1999), p. 21 3 Jackson, p. 23-24
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